Second World War

The Second World War took place between 1939 and 1945 and was the bloodiest conflict in human history. It split the world's nations into two opposing military alliances. The Allies, led by Britain and her Empire, the United States, the Soviet Union and France, united against the Axis Powers of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan.

Background

Aggressive nationalism had emerged in Europe following the First World War and the economic crises of the 1920s. Seeking to reverse the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919) and reassert Germany's dominance of Europe, Germany had annexed Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia in 1938.

Militaristic movements had also arisen in the Japanese Empire as a result of economic turmoil. Seeking influence and resources in Asia, Japan launched an invasion of China in 1937.

3 September 1939

War breaks out in Europe

The British Empire and France declare war on Germany following their invasion of Poland.

4 September 1939

The Battle of the Atlantic

The British embark on a long and bitter naval campaign against German U-boats threatening shipping in the Atlantic. It will be the longest campaign of the war.

May 1940

Battle of France

Germany invades France, Belgium and the Low Countries. The British forces dispatched to Europe are forced to evacuate from Dunkirk. France surrenders soon after.

Summer 1940

Battle of Britain

Germany attempts to gain air control over the British Isles before invasion. The Luftwaffe are defeated by the Royal Air Force and the invasion is suspended indefinitely.

September 1940

The Blitz begins

Germany commences the strategic aerial bombing of British cities.

February 1941

German forces arrive in North Africa

German commander Erwin Rommel is dispatched to North Africa to support Italian forces facing defeat by the Allies.

April 1941

The Axis invade Yugoslavia and Greece

The German Army launches an assault to overthrow the recently established pro-Allied government in Yugoslavia and support the stalled Italian invasion of Greece.

June 1941

Operation Barbarossa

Hitler launches a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, breaking a pact of non-aggression between the two nations.

The war expands

In July 1941 the Japanese sent troops to Southeast Asia. The move threatened British resources in the area, and prompted the United States and Britain to establish an oil embargo against Japan.

In retaliation, the Japanese launched a devastating attack on the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, drawing the United States into the war.

In the days that followed, the Japanese invaded European colonies across East Asia, including the British territories of Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore and Burma. The purpose of these campaigns was to create a fortified perimeter around a self-sufficient Japan, which could be defended until the Allies tired of the war.

February 1942

Fall of Singapore

At Singapore 80,000 Commonwealth troops are taken prisoner in Britain's worst defeat of the war.

June 1942

Battle of Midway

The US Navy severely weakens Japanese naval power in the Pacific with a decisive victory at Midway.

March 1942

Combined Bomber Offensive

The Allies launch a strategic aerial bombing campaign against German cities.

Autumn 1942

Battle of Guadalcanal

The Unites States earns another significant victory over the Japanese and goes on the offensive in the Pacific.

November 1942

Operation Torch

British and American forces invade Vichy French held Morocco and Algeria in order to help clear Axis forces from North Africa.

November 1942

Battle of El Alamein

After a series of battles in the desert, the British secure a decisive victory at El Alamein, forcing the Axis into retreat.

February 1943

Battle of Stalingrad

The Germans surrender at Stalingrad and the Red Army begins to push the Germans back towards Berlin.

The Allies move against Italy

In May 1943 Allied victory in North Africa was secured. Their armies advanced from east and west, linking up near Tunis and prompting 250,000 German and Italian troops to surrender.

The Allies then set their sights on clearing the Axis powers from Europe. The invasion of Sicily took place in July 1943, leading to the arrest and expulsion of the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini later that month. The victory prompted Italy to surrender, and an armistice was signed on 3 September, but fighting in the country continued.

September 1943

The Allies invade Italy

The Allies land in Italy, but the Germans move in to hold up any sustained advance.

July 1943

Battle of Kursk

Germany loses the initiative on the Eastern Front and is forced into full retreat by the Red Army.

January 1944

Battle of Monte Cassino

The Allied advance in Italy is held up in a five-month campaign to break the Italian Winter Line and enter Rome.

Spring 1944

Battles at Imphal and Kohima

Bitter jungle fighting finally earns the Allies a decisive victory over the Japanese in Burma.

The Allied invasion of Europe

The Allies launched the amphibious invasion of Europe on 6 June 1944 in Normandy. They also landed in southern France in August. These operations coincided with a huge Red Army offensive in Eastern Europe that dealt a crushing blow to the Germans.

September 1944

Operation Market Garden

The Allies' airborne attack aimed at securing a crossing of the Rhine is defeated.

December 1944

Battle of the Bulge

Germany's last offensive in the west, a counter-attack in the Ardennes aimed at dividing the advancing Allies, fails.

April 1945

Liberation of Bergen-Belsen

British forces liberate the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen.

April 1945

The Soviets take Berlin

The Red Army captures the German capital. The Allies meet the Russians at the River Elbe shortly after.

Victory in Europe

The Allies pushed into western Germany in February 1945. On 25 April the Red Army entered Berlin. Five days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the Soviets captured the German parliament building, the Reichstag.

After another Allied breakthrough in Italy, German forces there surrendered on 2 May.

Victory in Europe was declared for the Allies on 8 May 1945 following Germany’s unconditional surrender. This led to the occupation and division of Germany.

‘We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.’
The Potsdam Declaration issued by Allied leaders,
26 July 1945

Spring 1945

Japan on the run

Commonwealth troops continue to force the Japanese back in Burma. At the same time US forces seize key Japanese-held islands, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and attempt to destroy enemy cities and industry through firebombing.

July 1945

Attempts for peace

Allied leaders demand unconditional surrender from the Japanese, citing ‘prompt and utter destruction’ if this is not received.

August 1945

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The United States drops atomic weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing mass destruction and loss of life. The Red Army also invades Japanese territories between the bombings.

September 1945

Victory in Japan

The Japanese agree to unconditional surrender on 15 August. Their official surrender document is signed on 2 September 1945, ending the war.

The deadliest conflict in human history

Over 65 million people died during the Second World War. The majority of deaths were civilians killed by strategic aerial bombing, man-made famine and genocide. After the war, Axis political and military leaders were put on trial and convicted of war crimes.

The United Nations was formed in 1945 in order to prevent another global conflict.

Legacy

While the British Empire emerged victorious from the conflict, the economic and political cost of waging the war set the stage for its breakup in the years that followed.

Due to their economic and military might, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as the dominant global powers. Their opposing visions of a post-war world and the potential of global nuclear conflict created a Cold War of political and military tension that lasted until the 1990s.

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